The Dark Light
by Karabelle125
Summary: Our first story. China gets tipped off about the Book of Souls... A book that sucks up evil souls, but it can be influenced to do the opposite if it lands in the wrong hands. When inside the book, you experience your worst nightmares over and over again. Chinduggery and Ganith and Val for awkwardness. Rated T just in case. All characters belong to Derek Landy. Please review!
1. It was Raining in Dublin

**Prologue - It was raining in Dublin**

The icy water fell from the heavens, pounding down on the marble steps, disguising the sound made by a pair of black leather boots. The shadowy figure of a woman was illuminated by the lightning held in her palm. She reached the landing and smirked. _It was all so easy,_ she thought. The woman crossed the landing and headed towards the heavy wooden doors that marked the entrance to the mortal library. As she closed the old doors silently, the thundering of the rain was muffled.

She travelled through the maze of books shelves that criss-crossed the library until she reached a door that said 'restricted area'. Even the staff weren't allowed through that door. That was where the restricted section was, were all the magic books were kept. And that was her destination. Finally she would get her hands on that one stupid book. _What was it called again?_ She pondered as she trod down the narrow, bleak hallway. _Yes, the Book of Souls_. She stopped at the end and peered around the corner. She could see the flickering light of a candle, shining through the iron bar doors that were protecting the books.

Although he was just out of site, she knew that the candle was being held by a mage, Oswald Waldroop. She also knew that he was a weak elemental and that he would be leaving in less than 5 minutes so that he didn't miss his favourite television show, _The Wheel of Misfortune_ _._ She had to ask her sources to find information on him, which was shameful. _I should know these things,_ she thought, _he is my father after all._

Oswald soon made an appearance. He was short and round and, as usual, his trousers looked a little bit too tight for him. His thinning, grey hair sat upon his head like a mop. His dark brown eyes were small and beady. He closed the iron gate and locked it on the way out as he walked towards his daughter. She slid back against the wall. Moments before he shuffled into her line of sight, she produced a cloaking sphere from inside her jacket pocket. She quickly adjusted it so it just covered her body and didn't take up any more room than she needed to stay hidden. As he hobbled past, he glanced at where she was standing and sighed deeply.

He mumbled to himself as he reached the grey door at the end of the hallway. Something about not trusting people. He pushed open the door and left the corridor, still muttering. She got to work immediately. She kept the cloaking sphere in place in case he came back for whatever reason. She summoned lightning and started melting the lock. Sparks flew inside the cloaking sphere. A few landed on her skin, burning it, but she didn't care, not when she was this close.

The lock fell to the floor with a clang only she could hear. It was unrecognisable. She kicked open the door and the hinges creaked so loudly, thank the heavens it was inside the cloaking sphere, the whole town would have heard it. She shoved the cloaking sphere back inside her jacket and crept into the room. She quickly took in her surroundings. The book immediately stood out, sitting on a wooden podium, protected by reinforced glass.

The book hummed and pulsated with power. As she moved closer she was sure she could here it speaking to her. It sounded like hundreds of people talking at once, though only at a whisper. So this would be what humanity would be reduced to; billions of souls whispering, no, begging for freedom.

Unconsciously, she touched the glass and received a painful electric shock. _Really,_ she thought sarcastically, _this is the defensive mechanism for a book of mass destruction._ The next time she touched the glass, she prepared herself. She let the electricity run through her body before she sent it crashing back towards the glass barrier.

Razor sharp shards of glass rained down upon the ground. She picked up the book with great care. No debris had landed on the cover of the ancient book. The corners of the golden-brown pages had started curling over and were covered in dust that was permanently embedded in the paper.

"All powerful Book of Souls, I am your new master, you must obey my commands," She scowled at herself for talking to a book. She sighed. She had gone to so much effort, and her plan had failed just because the stupid book couldn't be bothered to wake up.

The whispering ceased and the room fell quiet. In her hands, the book flew open. The blank pages kept turning until it reached the middle. In the centre of the page, written in deathly black ink, was one little word;

 _Yes._


	2. A Trip to the Beauticians

**Chapter 1**

Walking along the main street was definitely not something she liked to do. Seven men asked her out with horrible punch lines, and three slipped their number into her coat pocket. With only one look at her, she would ruin their relationships, their marriages, their lives. Of course, since she was China Sorrows, she was use to this sort of thing. Everyone who saw her immediately fell in love with her. She had only felt love once, and once only. But that was a whole other story. He would never love her back, not after what she had done to him and his family, his wife and child. The nightmares still haunted her.

She made her way through the blocks of shops and apartments, narrowly escaping several married men from asking her out. She slipped in to the alley and hid in the shadows until they walked past. She wished that all the mortals in this town would go away. They would leave their family to be with her, even their children. She didn't mind the mages, they wouldn't be so easily swayed. That was mainly a good thing. Mainly...

After what seemed like an hour of avoiding love struck mortals, she finally reached her destination, the Emerald Spa. As she stepped inside the little shop, the acidic smell of nail polish filled the air. The lady at the counter was a mage, an adept; though China didn't know what she focused on. Her name was Cassidy Jones. China didn't know how old she was but she guessed Cassidy was in her early four-hundreds. Her brown hair had streaks of grey and was just long enough to pull into a messy bun. She had creases in the corner of her eyes and often gave China counsel without knowing it. China came here when she didn't know what to do (which was very rarely).

As she approached, Cassidy glanced up and looked slightly startled to see China walking towards her. For a second she looked almost nervous. And guilty, as if she'd been caught doing something wrong. She immediately wiped the look off her face and smiled warmly at China. China nodded in greeting and smiled back.

"I'm glad you're here China," Cassidy said indicating for China to follow her, then she whispered, "I've been hoping you'd come."

Cassidy lead China into a private room at the back of the salon. The room was pitch black. Even when Cassidy turned on the lights, the room was still quite dark. China figured that it was all a part of the relaxation process. Cassidy motioned towards the chair in the middle of the room. China noticed a faint sigil on the side of the chair. She frowned. She was sure she'd seen it before. _Never mind,_ China thought, _it probably just helps relax the mind._ She sat gracefully on the chair. She sank into the seat, putting her head back.

"Just relax," Cassidy smiled, "You might feel a bit tired during the massage." She then spoke in a soft whisper-like voice. "Feel yourself sinking deep into the chair. Feel your body getting heavier and heavier and heavier…" China closed her eyes and sighed, she could basically feel her thoughts leave her mind. She tried to open her eyes again but found that she couldn't, it felt like her eyelids were sealed shut. She managed to open them slightly, but her vision was blurred. She tried to move her arm to tell Cassidy to stop, but found she couldn't. She tried to wiggle her toes, but they didn't move. She saw a figure leaning over her grabbing her limp wrist. _What's happening?_ China thought sleepily. Even her thoughts were fuzzy. She felt herself falling out of consciousness and the dark room fell black once more...


	3. Deadly Frenemie

**Notes: It has been 9 days since we published our first chapter and we already have over 50 views. Yes, we are keeping a very close eye on that. By the way sorry it took so long to add this chapter but it's quite long! We hope that makes up for it! Also please review...**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

China opened her eyes blearily. She saw a blurry figure standing on the other side of the room, leaning over a wooden table. China herself was strapped and magically bound to a chair in the middle of the room. There was an old, rusty, fluorescent light creaking and flickering above her. _Just like in those silly mortal movies,_ she thought to herself. She blinked a few times to clear her vision. The figure was turning around now. It was clearly a women. As China saw her face she gasped.

"C...C...Cassidy?" China stuttered. Her tongue felt swollen and heavy in her mouth.

"I see that you're awake, China," Cassidy almost snarled when she said this. "You're probably wondering what's going on. Well, let's start with this, we've known each other much longer than you think and…well, I'm not an adept."

China frowned, trying to hide her shock. Everyone she had asked said that she was an adept.

Cassidy smirked at her confusion. "For years I had to put up with you and your manipulative ways. I got tired of you bossing me around. You probably think that I give you advice without me knowing that I do it. Of course I know that I do it! I have influenced every recent decision in your life; even the small minor ones. I have helped you decide what book to read, even guided your pathetic love life."

"All of this started with a book, _The Book of Souls._ Yes China, doesn't that name ring a bell. Anyway, I used to work at your library and I was inspired by you and tried to start my own library. As it turns out, the competition was too strong." Cassidy took her time to glare meaningfully at China. "I decided that I needed to 'up' my game, and that was when I was told about _The Book of Souls_. Of course it was hidden well, too complicated for me to find, so I led you on the path to the book. I even dropped a few subtle hints here and there to make sure that you were determined to find it. A few times I even had to influenced your dreams. Yes, that's right, I'm a sensitive."

"You are probably that I made all this up. But I can assure you that this all happened. I pulled in a favour from a friend and now you don't remember a thing." Cassidy grinned at China, a wicked grin that made some gears in her brain finally start working. China remember that grin, she could see it now, like someone had dusted the cobwebs from her mind. She was there, back at that night. Cassidy was with her and they were standing in a bleak, grey, windowless room. She was clutching a book in her arms, _The Book of Souls._

 _"Give me the book," Cassidy hissed, "Just give me the damn book and we can both walk out of here alive and happy. Me with the book and you with a new partner."_

 _"Over my dead body," China spat back._

 _"That can be arranged," that cruel smile played on her lips as China crumpled to the floor, only now realising that they weren't alone in the room._

Coming back to the present, China watched as Cassidy picked up a metal object from the table and slowly walked towards the centre of the room. She circled China's chair and kept grinning at her wickedly. The grin brought back more memories. Cassidy working for China. The small fight they had when Cassidy left. And most importantly that sigil. China didn't know why she remembered, she just did. She remembered reading it in a book that she found underneath a shelf in her library. But how to escape...

She was thrown back into the past. Strapped down to a hospital bed, in a white room with one other person. The other person was a women. She had wavy grey hair with a black circlet and was wear black ankle boots and a black leather jacket. But her most remarkable feature was her eyes. The were a dark shade of red, a maroon-like colour, but definitely red.

 _"So Cassidy tells me you caused her a bit of trouble," the woman had a soft voice, but there was no kindness in it, "She really doesn't want to kill you so we agreed to wipe your memory. I wanted to kill you. Anyway, I may as well just get the job over and done with. Any last requests?"_

 _"A few," her past self said, "Who are you? Are you taking my whole memory? And if you are, I beg you to leave me with a memory of one person. Preferably someone of my choosing."_

 _"Well, Cassidy is so weak that I am only taking your memories of this; me, her and the book. If I took your whole memory she wouldn't pay me. As for my name... my name is..."_

That was when she swung back to the present, with Cassidy pointing what looked like a spatula at China's throat.

"Answer me when I ask you a question!" she roared.

"I'm sorry," China said calmly, "Please repeat the question."

"I said..." Cassidy spoke through her gritted teeth, clearly agitated, "Where did you put the damn book."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I thought that you took it from me."

"No you idiot! You gave me a fake!"

China smiled at herself. That sounded like just the thing she would do. "Well, it's a bit hard for me to remember, because someone wiped my memory and all."

Cassidy cursed and stormed back towards the bench. Then she started to ramble on to herself.

"Oh if Lividia finds out... I'm dead. I hope she finds it. She has to find it. She is Lividia Shanks after all. She'll find it." She kept repeating things like this. Over and over again. Until China was sure that she was forgotten that China was still in the room with her. That was when China took her chance to look over the side of the chair she was strapped to and studied the sigil. Just as she had thought, very simple and very easy to counter act on her behalf. But she had one question that needed answering.

"Who was the person who you payed to take my memories?"

Cassidy looked up, startled.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter that you know because I'm going to kill you anyway."

 _Yeah right,_ China thought.

"Her name is Lividia, Lividia Shanks. We have a deal going and we help each other out every so often. Especially if we have a common goal. Right now, she is looking for the real copy of _The Book of Souls._ And when she finds it we will rule the world together." Cassidy laughed evilly and China held back her own laughter. Such an amateur. "You should probably know what will befall humanity before you die. Well, _The Book of Souls_ usually captures the souls of the bad by just touching them, but Lividia has found a way to make it capture the souls of the good instead. So every puny person with a good soul will be trapped inside the book forever and they have to relive their worst nightmare over and over again."

"Oh China, I wish you had just given me the book. Then we wouldn't be in this situation. We could have been friends and shared your library. I wouldn't have had to erase your memory. I wouldn't have to kill you…" She sighed deeply. "Don't get me wrong, I would still give you a chance, but Lividia wants you dead and that means I want you dead. If I don't kill you, she'll kill me."

"Not if I kill you first."

WHAT?" Cassidy shrieked as China stabbed her in the stomach. She crumpled to the floor, blood spilling out of the long gash in her belly.

"My dear," China spoke with false sympathy, "Even I can tell that Lividia was going to kill you instead of rule the world with you. Did you hear yourself? Lividia did this. Lividia did that. You really needed to get a life. So you can thank me for that."

And as Cassidy took her last breath, China got out her phone and called Skulduggery.


	4. Running Through the Woods

**Chapter 3**

Tanith and Valkyrie ran.

Tanith wasn't sure what exactly they were running from, but she knew that whatever it was, it's goal was to killed her and Val. They ran through the forest at Gordon Edgley's estate, darting in and out from the rows of trees. She glanced at Val and caught her jumping over an impossibly thick log and vanished from Tanith's sight. She kept running, they were incredibly fast. Tanith risked a quick glimpse to look for Valkyrie, Skulduggery would kill her if Val got seriously hurt. But Tanith couldn't see any sign of her.

Suddenly something grabbed her ankle and she fell flat on her face. She felt something pass over the top of her, something filled with the kind of darkness that sent shivers down your spine, that would give you nightmares for months, that made you feel like your life was worthless. As she got up, Tanith felt hot, sticky blood start to ooze out of her nose. Looking around, she took in the situation. It was Valkyrie who had grabbed her foot, saved her life again. The thing that had jumped over her was turning to face them, snarling. It some sort of wolf-like creature. Black as death itself, the wolf seemed to be made from shadows, swirling and dancing within the confines of the wolf shape. _It must be necromancy,_ she thought, _I wonder if Val can do that?_

The shadowy-wolf was not alone. Two more pitch black figures bounded over their heads and joined the first one, snarling and growling. Tanith shivered, the cold was unbearable. _Why haven't they made a move on us yet?_ Tanith questioned, _they haven't even got us surrounded. It's like this is one big game to them. The only thing is, our lives are at stake._ She only saw one way out of this one.

"Val," Tanith forced her fear not to creep into her voice, "On the count of three we run as fast as we can." Valkyrie gave her a look as if to say 'R _eally, that's your plan?'_

"Unless you have a better idea," Tanith muttered.

"Fine," Valkyrie replied.

"Three."

Suddenly, black tendrils of shadows ripped themselves free of the wolves and formed a few pointy looking spears, aimed directly at Valkyrie and Tanith.

"Two."

The forest was deathly silent, as if all the creatures were holding their breath.

"One."

Together Valkyrie and Tanith spun around and ran, once again, for their lives. At the same time the wolves howled at the sky and as one, the spears flew towards their target at an incredible pace. Tanith grabbed Valkyrie's wrist and pulled her behind a tree and one of the spears missed her by a hairs length. Spinning around, Tanith looked up as the tree trunk they were hiding behind was hit by another spear and bark fell to the ground in large chunks. She hauled on Val's wrist again sprinted away from the wolves, who had just started moving towards their prey.

Why did everyone choose to attack them on the worst possible days. Valkyrie was helping her look for a nice picnic spot in the woods for lunch later on that day. Ghastly had let her pick the spot for lunch and he would bring the food. Tanith had thought it would be nice and peaceful at Gordon's estate. Hidden away and secluded from the rest of the world. Of course this was the day that the three shadow creatures decided to show up and attack them.

"Where did th-", Valkyrie stopped abruptly mid-sentence and shivered. She motioned for Tanith to stop running, then she whispered, "They have us surrounded."

Tanith could feel it too. The cold despair that had suddenly engulfed to forest around them. The wolves emerged from the trees, except this time they weren't wolves, they were snakes. Longer than Tanith and Val combined, the snake hissed and spat at them. The one closest to Tanith moved towards her and she tried to cut off it head. Her blade went straight through the snake but didn't effect it in the slightest. Valkyrie clicked her fingers and flames licked her hand. The two snakes near her hissed louder and recoiled. Val swung her hand around to Tanith's snake. It stop advancing and hissed at the fire.

"I don't want to send a fireball at them because I might set the entire forest on fire," Valkyrie looked at Tanith for an answer.

"Why don't you just put out the fire directly after you throw the fireball," then she added, "it's not like we have any other choice."

As soon as the first fireball hit the snake, it disappeared into the shadows and vanished. Val quickly surrounded the flames in an air bubble and put them out.

"Yes! It worked!" Val nearly laughed with joy. She threw another fireball, but before it reached them, the snakes faded into the ever changing shadows on the forest floor.

"Where did they go?" Tanith looked around panicked.

"I-I don't know..." Val stuttered, putting out the fire.

"Aren't you meant know all this necromancy stuff."

"Yes...Except Solomon never taught me this; or mentioned it. To be able to create shadow beings..." Even Val had looked stunned when she saw the creatures, "They must be near by!" she exclaimed. When Tanith gave her a confused look she added, "The people who are controlling the shadow things."

"How will we find them?"

I don't know," Val said again.

"I actually don't care at the moment," Tanith sighed, "All I want is to get out of here."

"At least they're gone for now," Val said, "Okay, let's go."

"Well, I told Ghastly to meet me at the house."

"And which way is that?" Val asked.

"Aren't you meant to know that?"

"Ummm..."


	5. Sarcastic Phone Call

**It's really short but look forward to the next chapter it's going to be funny...**

 **Celebrating 200 views! That's probably not much but it makes us happy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Skulduggery looked at his phone. China was calling him. This was the last thing he needed right now. He picked up anyway;

He sighed, "Hello China..."

"Skulduggery, I was just captured by my beautician and she tried to kill me," she stated it like it was a perfectly usually chain of events.

"And I suppose she didn't kill you."

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you now. I stabbed he-" she stopped abruptly, " Oh no, oh no..."

"What is it China?" Skulduggery said, quite alarmed.

"Her blood has gotten on my favourite shoes! I'll never get this out!"

Skulduggery sighed. "So where are you?"

"I'm not quite sure..."

"Are you in Ireland?"

"I told you I don't know!" China said, frustrated.

"Surely there's a sign somewhere," Skulduggery as calm as ever.

"I think I would of told you if there was a sign!" China paused, "What's the time in Dublin?"

Skulduggery looked down at his wrist, "It's 4:17 in the afternoon." He heard her muffled voice talking to someone on the other end of the line.

"So apparently I'm still in Dublin."

"Wow," Skulduggery said, "Such great kidnapping skills."

China sighed, "You know, I do have such fond memories of her."

"Do you mean that you'll miss the person who kidnapped you and tried to kill you?"

"Yes."

"Oh..."


	6. Late for a Date

**Hi Readers of the World,**

 **Sorry we haven't been posting as regularly as we would like to, but we have school and a lot of homework. Still we will try and post at least once every week.**

 **Now, what everyone has been waiting for (but not really because no one knew they were waiting for it)...**

 **Ghastly's pep talk to himself before the big date!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Ghastly paced nervously back and forth in the back of his shop, glancing at his watch every so often. He stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the wall.

"It's fine. It's just a date. You've been on one before and it went fine! Don't worry, don't worry don't worry..."

Examining himself from top to bottom, he noticed that there was a slight crease in his jacket. Hyperventilating, Ghastly hurriedly took off his jacket and ran over to where his ironing board was. He laid the jacket down and carefully ironed the crease out.

He stepped in-front of the mirror again, only to notice that there was a faint stain on the left sleeve. That would simply not do. Ghastly shrugged off his jacket again and threw it onto the floor. He navigated his way through the piles of clothes that littered the ground of his shop. Ghastly flung open his wardrobe and started frantically scanning all of the clothes. No, no, no! He was panicking now. Surely I must have one clean jacket to wear.

Spinning around, he bent over and started rummaging through the the nearest clothes piles. I put aside a jacket yesterday, but where did I hang it up? Ghastly stopped in front of the mirror again.

"What if I don't wear a jacket? Will it matter? Wait, what is Tanith wearing today?" Still ranting on, he tried out several outfits until finally he fashioned himself an outfit that was casual, yet classy. He checked his watch and nearly fainted. He had ten minutes to get to Gordon's estate. That was hardly enough time! He would be late for his second date with Tanith! No, no, no this was not happening.

He needed Fletcher.

* * *

"Hey Ghastly, what's up?"

"Fletcher, can you do me a massive favour?"

"Sure what do you need?"

"Umm…"

"Wait, let me have a guess," he paused for barely a second before saying, "You're late for your second date with Tanith because you spent an hour looking for the right clothes to wear and now you want me to teleport you to Gordon's estate so you'll be on time."

Ghastly stood silently.

"Am I wrong?"

"No…" Ghastly said slowly.

"Great, I'll see you out the front of your shop in...10 seconds." Fletcher hung up.

 _Am I really that predictable?_ He thought, _Does Tanith think I'll arrive late?_

Racing out to the front of his shop, double checking that he had everything he needed. Ghastly almost didn't notice that there was someone waiting.

A woman was sitting with her feet up and her arm draped over the couch like she owned the place.

"Oh sorry, I didn't here you come in. Were you waiting long?" Ghastly asked, wondering if she had heard him talking to himself.

"No," she said.

"Are you here for a new outfit?"

"Picking up, actually."

"Oh yes, your here for the jacket and pants. I have to say, they're one of my best works yet."

"I can't wait," a hint of sarcasm on the edge her voice.

"Your name please," Ghastly said, moving towards the counter.

"Lividia, Lividia Shanks..."


	7. A Loving Conversation

**Hello, Skulduggery Pleasant fans of the world!**

 **If you haven't heard, Derek Landy has announced that there will be...**

 ***drum roll***

 **A 10th Skulduggery Pleasant book!**

 **It should be coming out sometime after June next year! (So far away...)**

 **Please feel free to express your excited-ness and tell us if you have any more information regarding this awesome news.**

 **Now please enjoy the story below...**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

After hours of wandering the woods, all sense of direction, if they even had any at first, was lost. Tanith and Valkyrie trudged through the undergrowth, cutting a path through the trees. They found their own track every so often, getting more frustrated every time. They were hot. They were hungry. They were exhausted.

"This is hopeless," Val said, exasperated. She had even tried to fly up a few times but found that she couldn't break through the thick layer of branches that made up the canopy.

"Ghastly should be here by now," Tanith said. Whipping around to face Val, she added, "What if he thinks that I didn't show up?"

"Don't worry, Tanith! Everything will be okay," Val spoke calmly, "He'll know something's wrong and get a rescue party going. And he wouldn't let up until you were found."

Tanith frowned, "You mean _us_ , right?"

"Nope, just you."

"Oh," she paused for a second before adding, "Would he really do that?"

"Of course! What, can't you tell that he's head over heels in love with you."

"Not really, no."

"So you haven't noticed the way that he doesn't take his eyes off you every time you see each other?" Val said smugly, "And the way you look back..."

Tanith was blushing now, turning a deep shade of red. "Is it really that obvious?"

"You've got to be kidding me! Almost everyone back at the sanctuary has bet on when you'll officially become boyfriend and girlfriend."

"And what do you think?" Tanith questioned.

"Within the next week or so," Val replied slyly, "I mean, really. You two, on your own in the woods, having a picnic. All alone. By yourselves. No one to interrupt you. What else would it take?"

"Uh, maybe not being hopelessly lost in the woods while being late for a date with no service to call anyone?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"But really, what are we going to do?"

Sitting down on a large root, Val sighed and gestured for Tanith to join her. "I don't know..."

"Well, our best hope now is to sit and wait 'til someone finds us."

They sat in silence for a moment and Val looked up at the trees and the speckles of sunlight shining through the tiny gaps in the leaves. She looked at the forest floor and watched the sunlight dance across the dead leaves. When the trees swayed and moaned, everything in the forest moved with them, a pattern of gentle movement. Suddenly Tanith perked up.

"Do you hear that?" she exclaimed.

"No, what am I meant to hear?" Val said puzzled.

"It...it...it's Ghastly!"

"Really!? What direction is it coming from?"

"Umm..." Tanith paused for a second before saying, "That way!" She pointed back the way they had come.

Val groaned, "Are you sure?"

"100% positive," Tanith grinned.

"But that means that we have been walking further and further away from the house!"

"And now we know which way to go, so come on!" Tanith stood up and started running towards the sound of Ghastly's voice.

"Slow down," Val called after her. She couldn't help but grin back as Tanith glanced back her, a smile still on her face.

She was crazy.

Crazy in love...


	8. A Trip to the Lucky Charms Bar

**Hello children,**

 **Just in case it was a bit unclear, this story is set in a random place in time (probably alternate reality), where Darquesse has come and gone, Ghastly is still alive, Val hasn't had her surge yet and she never moved away.**

 **So basically what would have happened if we wrote** **Skulduggery Pleasant (eek!).**

* * *

 **P.S.**

 **In our minds, the man with the golden eyes who must never be named, never existed (or died a more painful and horrible death than in the books).**

 **P.P.S.**

 **This is our longest chapter so far!**

 **Anyways, Happy Reading!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Catching the bus was not something she liked to do. Everyone stared at her, all with big, wistful eyes that she had seen a million times before, eyes that said: _"I wish I was her's"_.

Skulduggery had told her to meet him at a small bar on the other side of town. He assured her that it was quite small and the only way you found out about it was through word of mouth, so it wouldn't be crowded. After complaining that he could just come and pick her up and they could get straight back to the sanctuary, she hung up on him. China had sighed and asked the next person to walk past where the nearest bus stop was.

She guessed he didn't _have_ to pick her up. He could have made her get back to her library on her own. He could have made her walk through the streets all alone. Well, he was doing that anyway.

Trying as best she could to ignore everyone else on the bus, China looked out the window and watched as this sad little town, old and tired, raced by. She saw glimpses of crumbling walls and graffiti covering entire buildings like a spider's web. She turned back, facing the front again and caught the bus driver staring at her through the mirror. She saw a girl about to cross the road in front of the bus. She didn't see them coming.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" She shouted at the bus driver. In the corner of her eye, she saw just about everyone on the bus do the same. The bus came to a screeching stop. The girl, who hadn't flinched at the presence of the bus less than a metre away from hitting her, turned slowly and looked directly at China. Fighting the urge to look away, China studied the girl who glowed.

She had fiery red hair that shone like the sun. Her skin was pale, but that shimmered as well. She glowed like there was a fire inside her. The fire ran through her blood and her bones. China could feel the intensity of her stare. Her eyes. They were a deep, blood red, but they shone as though they were the sun themselves. They were flickering like a flame. It mesmerised China until she finally forced herself to look away. Her eyes reminded her of someone. Their eyes had the same deep feeling surrounding them. The same pit of despair that had no end. Of course, if he actually had eyes, that's what China imagined them to be.

Why had the girl not worried about the bus that had come so close to hitting her and possibly killing her? Perhaps she was a mage. Probably an elemental. Though she must have been pretty powerful to withstand China's beauty. Even a glance at her would make her fall in love, _So why didn't she show any sign of affection to me?_ China thought as she watched the girl walk across the road and walk down the other side of the street. The bus started moving again and she could still feel the heat of the girl's stare in the back of her head. That was when she noticed the bus driver staring at her again.

"I told you to keep your eyes on the road!" China roared, "Do you want to get us both killed?"

He mumbled an apology and return his eyes to the street in front of him. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes until they reached her stop. She decided to think. She thought about a lot of things. She thought about what Cassidy had said. About this mysterious Lividia Shanks. About the Book of Souls...

* * *

China was relieved as she finally stepped off the bus. When she had stood up, about half of the people on the bus did as well. She wasn't happy about the bar. There would be people there, people who would not be "immune" to her beauty. They would crowd her, wanting to have her.

China took in a deep breath before she pushed open the double doors to the "Lucky Charms" bar. It was dark and crowded. The cream paint was basically shedding off the walls. All of the furniture was made of brittle wood that looked so old it might have snapped under the weight of a paperclip. A hush fell over the crowd of people almost immediately. The majority of them were big burly men that you wouldn't want to meet in a back alley. Only two people in the bar didn't turn around. One of which, of course, was Skulduggery.

He was wearing a navy pinstripe suit and a matching hat. He wasn't wearing a scarf, so China suspected that his facade was up. The other person, however, was a woman. She was sitting on the old bar stool next to Skulduggery, and they were talking. She had long grey hair, which was loose. And her outfit was completely black. She wore boots, jeans, and a leather jacket; all black. China didn't like to wear black, she felt it was too depressing and brought the mood down. Looking at her, she felt something pull deep inside her, something that hurt only on the inside.

She heard someone moving behind her and she spun around.

"Ah um, miss," the man said. He was quite pathetic; short and stubby, his skin shining with oil even in this low light. She could see his friends chuckling back at their table.

"What it is?" China snapped.

"Will you marry me?"

China sighed _._ Why did she have this effect on people? Why couldn't she just be a normal mage? Being this beautiful did have its advantages, though. She could easily make the person she loved fall in love with her. Unless they were "immune". Or they hated her for something she did to them a very long time ago...

China turned her back on the man and strode towards Skulduggery. He had finally noticed her, and so had the woman. She was staring at China, probably mesmerised like the rest of the men here. But when the woman looked away she nearly faltered in her stride. Everyone who meets her for the first time has trouble taking their eyes off her, no matter how powerful they were. Unless they had already met her before, perhaps she had visited China's library.

The woman stood and started walking towards the exit. As they passed each other, the woman looked at China again. They brushed shoulders, maintaining eye-contact the whole time. The woman didn't flinch or falter. _Who_ is _she?_ China wondered.

"China," Skulduggery nodded in greeting.

"Skulduggery," She nodded back, "Who's your new friend?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"She didn't ask for my name, and I didn't ask for hers."

"Okay, then..." There was a heavy silence which China broke, "Can we please not stay long, everyone is staring at me, it makes me uncomfortable," Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some of the many people staring at her look down at their drinks.

"Fine, let's go," Skulduggery pushed himself up and made for the doorway. China followed him, keeping her head high.

Together they walked around the corner to where Skulduggery had parked the Bentley. They got in the car and Skulduggery sped off, after checking that everything was in order. This time, China let the silence stretch out, it gave her some time to think over what had happened today. She thought about Lividia, about Cassidy. She wondered where she would go for a massage now. She thought about the glowing girl. And she thought about Skulduggery...

When she had walked into the bar. When she had seen Skulduggery with that other woman. She had felt something she hadn't felt for a very long time. It used to gnaw at her insides, and now it was back, but it wasn't as bad. He would probably never see that woman again. But it still ached. It ached in her heart.

She was jealous.

She was in love.


	9. The Gun Flower

**Chapter 8**

The silence was making Skulduggery uncomfortable. He kept glancing at China to see if she would start talking, but to his dismay, she remained silent. She was staring out the window, thinking. She took in a deep breath, then sighed. Skulduggery sighed too. She was beautiful, not just in the way that everybody else saw her. You had to see her through eyes that had experienced heartbreak to see her real beauty. He studied her carefully, taking in every detail. The way her hair shone in the sunlight. How the rhythm of her shoulders rising up and down, had him locked in a trance that he could not pull himself out of. Then she spoke:

"Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?" China said, still staring out the window. Skulduggery immediately tore his eyes away from China. If he had flesh, his cheeks would have been flushed a deep shade of red. He had been watching her ever since they stopped at the traffic lights. How long had that been? It felt like eons.

"Skulduggery, I'm talking to you," China said, annoyed.

"Yes, sometimes I get the feeling that someone is watching me," he said, turning back to look out China's window. He sighed and look at the road in front of him. How long had it taken these traffic lights to change? Longer than usual, that was for sure. And there didn't seem to be any other cars around.

It was probably just an issue with the system, Skulduggery assured himself. He looked at the surrounding houses and gently nudged China.

"China," he said as calmly as he could, "I don't mean to alarm you but there is a man with a machine gun pointing at your head."

"Where?" said China, whirling around.

"Just over there, the second house down, with all the gnomes in the garden, hiding behind that wall. I'm afraid that one of his friends has hacked into the traffic lights and that's the reason that we've been sitting here for 10 minutes."

"So why hasn't he shot us yet?"

"Ummm...you."

"What do you mean me?"

"You."

"Oh..." China paused before adding, "So what are we going to do?"

"I am going to speed down the road and just hope that there aren't any more of them."

China frowned, "They would have to be pretty good to do any serious damage if we're going that fast."

"Yes, but they might get the car." Skulduggery said seriously.

"Oh..." China repeated.

"Okay, you might want to hold on," he said as he slammed on the gas. The Bentley shot forward through the red light, tires screaming. Out of the corner of his eye, Skulduggery saw the gunman recoil with shock, a stupid look on his face. He felt China grip his thigh bone tightly and he saw her face grow pale. He started to slow down after a kilometer. The Bentley swung around a corner and came to a halt in a quiet side street.

Skulduggery looked at China and saw the blood gradually return to her face. She slowly released her grip on his leg and unclenched her other hand. There were four bloodied crescent shapes in her palm. He could hear her breathing heavily. Leaving her to calm down, he got out of the car and searched for any bullet holes. Luckily, there were none, so he got back into the Bentley.

"Who was it?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure that this mysterious Lividia Shanks hired him to do it..." China replied vaguely.

"And what do we know about her?"

"Only that we've apparently had some history and she's trying to get back at me by stealing a rare and very powerful book called the _Book of_ Souls. And now we're going after it too."

"How are we going to get it?"

"Well, Cassidy, my kidnapper, told me that Lividia has probably already found the book and has taken it by now."

"She wasn't very smart then."

"No, she told me almost everything that we need to know," China thought for a moment before adding, "Except what that _Book of Souls_ actually does and where we can find it."

"Oh."

"But I remembered something."

"What do you mean you remembered something?"

"When Lividia and I were battling over the _Book of Souls_ the first time, she decided to wipe my memory. But Cassidy was too soft and she only took my memories of them and the _Book of Souls_. I had a few flashbacks to the night when they stole the book and my memories, the book they stole was actually a fake, and I hid the other real one. According to my vague memories, I think I hid the book in a small library in Australia. But if Lividia has already taken it, then our main priority is tracking her down."

"So what are we waiting for?" said Skulduggery asked impatiently.

"Nothing."

"So let's go!" As a side note he added, "We'll have to stop past Gordon's estate to pick up Valkyrie, she was helping Tanith find a picnic spot for her and Ghastly to have lunch."

"Why don't we bring them all along then!" China muttered sarcastically.

"What a good idea!"


	10. Jim, The Blubbery Mass of Flesh

**Hi Guys!**

 **So sorry this chapter took so long, we had the end of term assessment rush! But now that we have school holidays, we have way more time to write...**

 **...Just not on this story. You see, our school has put on a fanfiction and fanart competition, so being the ambitious little children that we are, we are going to enter...several times. We will post all of the fanfictions that we write for the competition, so keep an eye out for our new Skulduggery Pleasant and (if you've seen it) Miraculous Ladybug fanfics!**

 **This will be the last chapter on this fanfiction for a little while, so enjoy it while it lasts!**

 **P.S.**

 **R.I.P. Gordon Edgely...**

 **P.P.S.**

 **Very sorry about the cliche-ness of the men.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Ghastly waved goodbye to Fletcher and a moment later he was gone.

He looked around, taking in his surroundings. Fletcher had dropped him at the edge of the forest at the estate, and he could just see Gordon's – no, Valkyrie's – mansion. Ghastly sighed as he remembered the infamous Gordon Edgely. He wrote some good books. He had read quite a few of them.

What he couldn't see was Tanith. _Where was she?_ He thought. Then Ghastly remembered that she was going to find a picnic spot in the woods. _I'll go and meet her there!_ He decided happily. Heading towards the tree line, Ghastly wondered how he would actually find her in this massive forest, but he was unable to finish the thought. Barely taking a step, he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head, knocking him into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Ghastly woke, he could hear unfamiliar voices surrounding him. They were all men speaking, though one person's voice was very high, almost like a girl's. He made sure that his breathing remained steady and slow, as though he were asleep. Listening to the conversation, Ghastly realised that the voices were discussing him.

"You still haven't answered my question, guys!" Said one of the men, his tone quite shrill. "What are we going do when he wakes up?"

"I already told ya that I dunno, Jim!" This man spoke with a slight Australian accent.

"Well for a start, we should probably tie him up. Look at the muscle on this guy!" The corners of Ghastly's lips curled into a faint smile at the mention of this. The third man had a smooth voice. "He could overpower the three of us no problem!"

Ghastly smirked. They were right of course, he could beat them up in a heartbeat. They looked like very peculiar people. One short and fat with approximately three chins, one tall and lanky, and the other was rather normal looking, not much muscle on him, but he stood out less than the other two.

"I'm getting nervous," Jim said shakily, hopping from foot to foot.

"Well, tie him up!" the tall one muttered, a hint of irritation in his voice.

Jim inched towards Ghastly, a rope in his hands. When he reached Ghastly, he was practically shaking. Jim roughly grabbed Ghastly's arms in a pathetic attempt to lift him.

"Jeez, you're heavy. I wonder if you're lighter when you aren't unconscious?"

Ghastly abruptly sat up, headbutting him in the forehead. "I don't think so," Ghastly said as he pushed the blubbery mass of flesh that was Jim, off of him. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his jacket. The tall one and the normal looking one gawked. "Hello," Ghastly said. The normal one ran forward, pulling a knife from the back pocket of his jeans. While Ghastly was distracted, the tall one shadow walked behind him. Ghastly felt the cold metal of a gun pressed to his temple.

"Now you're gonna do exactly what I say," he said calmly, "Or I'll shoot ya."

* * *

"Ghastly! Ghastly! Where are you?" Tanith screamed as she ran.

"Tanith, wait up. You're going too fast," Val said, struggling to keep up.

Tanith turned, running backwards, "Remind me to give you more endurance training when we get back!" Suddenly she stopped. Swivelling on the ball of her foot, she said, "I can't hear him anymore."

"It's okay. We'll find him."

"But what if he's hurt?"

"He'll be fine!"

Tanith stood still, just listening. All at once, Ghastly's cries started again, much louder this time. She sprang forward and raced towards him. She took no notice of the thorns that grabbed for her legs as she ran. Breaking free of the trees and bushes, she came to a sudden halt.

It was a rather large clearing. In fact, it was probably the perfect spot for a picnic. It was actually quite beautiful. There were three men there, one of them Ghastly. One of them was tall and thin, and the other was just...average. There was a large pile of what appeared to be old clothes. Only when it moved did Tanith realise it was another person. Then there was Ghastly.

He was on his knees, next to the tall one, in his finely-tailored outfit, with a gun pointed at his head. He looked up and their eyes met. _I'm sorry_ , he mouthed.

"Now, Miss Low, you're gonna do what I say or he gets it."


End file.
